A Moratorium (my proposed answer to the Ground Zero Mosque)

Of course it is very tempting to reflexively be in favor of anything that Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin loudly oppose. But there is nothing inherently "progressive" about the building of Mosques -- whether at Ground Zero or anywhere else. Nor is there anything intrinsically "right-wing" about being opposed to the building of a particular Mosque.

My solution to the Ground Zero Mosque controversy is this: (1) a moratorium on all foreign funding of Mosques in the US, including money for the operating costs of already existing Mosques, combined with, (2) a moratorium on all US funding, public and private, of Christian "missionary" work outside the US.

Let American Muslims have exactly as many Mosques as they themselves are willing to pay for. No more, no less.

And let American Christians donate as much money as they please to secular schools, hospitals, etc, around the world -- but let's stop the unconscionable practice of buying converts to Christianity in exchange for food, medicine, basic social services, etc.

Let the Christians and Muslims pray all they want, worship all they want, believe whatever they want, say whatever they want. But let's limit the transnational monetary influence of these two aggressive, intolerant ideologies. Such limitations would violate no one's right to believe and practice exactly as they choose.

Such a moratorium is unlikely to happen any time soon. In the meantime there are specific issues, like (1) opposing the foreign funded $100 million dollar Ground Zero Mosque, and (2) opposing all use of US taxpayer money for Christian missionary work, whether at home ("faith based initiatives") or abroad (a significant portion of "foreign aid" goes to Christian missionary groups).

We can use the Ground Zero Mosque issue to shine a light on the pernicious role of money in spreading ideologies of hatred and intolerance around the world. It also provides a golden opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of Palin, Gingrich and other spokesmodels of the most medieval and intolerant varieties of Christianity.